🪧 Another ‘Colorful Colorado’ sign stolen

🌊 Flooding on South Broadway Closes HQ

A water main broke on Aug. 15, flooding the 3,200-square-foot basement at the music venue HQ. “Denver Water barely got water turned off to the entire block in time to prevent water from reaching the main venue space upstairs,” the venue owners wrote on Monday. [Denver Post 🔒]

• ❤️‍🩹 How to help: HQ could be closed for months, so the owners are crowdfunding for support.

🏗️ Big Changes Coming to the Westside

With major developments looming next door in Sun Valley and in the parking lots around Ball Arena, the Latino Cultural Arts Center is making a big investment in La Alma Lincoln Park. This week, the organization revealed plans for Las Bodegas, a multimillion-dollar arts and culture center to be built in a couple of warehouses at 1935 West 12th Ave. [Westword]

• 👉 Related: Las Bodegas will be down the street from Burnham Yard, another redevelopment project with a lot of momentum behind it. [Denverite]
• 🎧 Dive deeper: We connected all the dots and imagined the future of the neighborhood. [City Cast Denver]

🪧 Another ‘Colorful Colorado’ Sign Stolen

There are about 40 of those iconic “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” highway signs along the state’s borders. Or at least, there were. Someone recently stole one near Durango, typifying what one official calls a “chronic problem.” Stolen signs have to be remade by hand at the Colorado Department of Transportation’s sign shop in Denver — to the tune of $3,700. [Durango Herald 🔒]

Today’s news section was written by City Cast Denver producer Paul Karolyi.

Hey loyal reader, what’s on your mind? 🤔

🛫 We recently asked what YOUR ideas were for improving Peña Boulevard, aka the gateway to the airport. Here are a couple suggestions:

• Tim J. supports lane expansion: “DEN Airport has moved to the third busiest in the world since Covid. It’s now projected that by 2030, DEN airport should hit 100,000,000 passenger count. No other Top Ten airport is served with only two inbound lanes on its primary access road. If DEN Airport is truly world class, it needs to be able to get people to/from the airport in a reasonable amount of time.”
• While Taylor L. is one of many who say the train is the answer: “My solution would be for increased service of the A-line, and people can utilize the park-and-ride. Free parking and getting to ride a train? double win.”

🎮 After we recommended Immersive Gamebox as something to check out in the 9+Co neighborhood, Danielle R. wanted to second the nom:

• “What I think is so great is the various skill levels they offer and how it’s not as intimidating to some folks as an escape room might be. This has the same vibe as VR but you don't have to wear an eye-covering headset. [They’ve recently] received the appropriate approvals to sell beer (cans, no draft), which you can take into the room with you while you play.”

🏀 After we talked about Denver’s potential to join the WNBA, Holly B. points out: “The league tries to play off the local NBA team name in cities that have both (so, the Suns/Mercury in Phoenix, the Wizards/Mystics in DC, the Timberwolves/Lynx in Minnesota).”

• So we’re voting for Ben R.’s nomination: “The Gems! It would go perfectly! Model the logo off the 2000s nuggets logo but with more gem tones!”

🪴 Expert Explorations at the Gardens | Wednesday | 6-7 p.m.

Explore the grounds of Denver Botanic Gardens with expert horticulturist Elena Shtern, and learn all about Colorado’s native ecosystems and plant communities. [Cheesman Park; Adults $20, Students $5]

📚 Denver Book Swap | Wednesday | 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Hosted at Number Thirty Eight, this community event invites you to mingle with fellow bookworms, share your most favorite recent read, and go home with a brand new book to crack into. [RiNo; Free (bring one book to swap)]

🍗 Chicken Fight Fest | Thursday | 5-10 p.m.

There is still time to grab tickets to the most finger-lickin’ chicken festival in the Mile High. Eat your heart’s desire in chicken tacos, chicken sandwiches, chicken wings, and more at Elitch Gardens. [Auraria; $109+]

Is the Widening of Peña Boulevard ‘Inevitable’?

Transit experts say widening a highway is not the best way to decrease traffic. So why does Denver Post reporter Jon Murray say that expanding Peña Boulevard on the way out to DIA “seems inevitable”? Murray is on today with host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi to talk through Mayor Mike Johnston’s first big transit test.